How Would YOU Change USAJOBS?

Last month, the Office of Personnel Management published a draft of their strategic plan for 2010-2015 seeking to update, streamline, and modernize how the federal government recruits, hires, trains, and rewards its civilian workforce.

John Berry, Director of OPM, stated in a speech entitled A New Day for the Civil Service, that they have set a lofty goal to make the federal government the model employer for the American in the 21st Century.

OPM is seeking public comment on their strategic plan, which happens in a lot of federal documents, but typically it’s a little hard to understand how to submit them. The OPM has made this a lot easier and more transparent, as the public comments can be instantly accessed by visitors to the site.

You can see OPM’s draft strategic plan and submit your own public comment here

Of the four strategic goals mentioned in the document, one in particular will have a large impact in attracting and recruiting top talent to work for Uncle Sam. This is of course the blessed and cursed USAJOBS.gov website.

Any applicant that submits an application for a position on USAJOBS understands that they are stepping into a potential black hole. Currently, it can be hard to discern if you qualified or not, or if a poorly formated application put to an end the little resume that could. Kudos in advance to OPM if that can make the process easier.

Other goals in the strategic plan focus on the life-cycle of federal employment, from assisting veterans in the transition to the federal workplace, improving the work-life balance, and recognizing high-performing employees and federal agencies for a job well done.

The Obama Administration has made it a stated goal to “make government cool again”, which was greeted with optimistic intrigue by Vanity Fair in their early profile of new Administration in February earlier this year. The Politico has even reported on an even more enthusiastic group of interns coming to DC to work. However, instead of just seeking an internship on Capitol Hill, they are finding the appeal of the executive branch and the plethora of options within federal agencies.

It’s important that the OPM finds an efficient way to seek for and hire the influx of enthusiastic workers young and old clamoring for a spot in the government. However, it’s simply too early to judge whether the OPM can change a government culture the public views as inefficient and full of red-tape. The release of the draft strategic plan is the first step in making it a reality.

Lofty goals indeed.

Download and read the Office of Personnel Management Draft 2010-2015 Strategic Plan at: http://www.opm.gov/strategicplan/ The deadline for public comments is August 30th, 2009.